Thursday, November 21, 2019

Worcester Strategic Plan update

You can now find it online here.
If you remember, the framework for the strategic plan is:

  • culture of innovation
  • academic excellence
  • welcoming schools
  • investing in education
  • technology and innovation
Note, first, that most of this presentation isn't new: it's the July presentation with a few "new" items that are sprinkled in. I'd argue that if you are truly going to give quarterly updates on the strategic plan, you need to gauge what has happened over the quarter, not simply continue to add to the same presentation and make it longer.

If you scroll through the presentation, though, the examples don't actually match the goals.
They're lists. They're stuff. But they're helter-skelter, not linked to the benchmarks or the themes. There isn't a report of actual progress towards the culture of innovation (read through and tell me what is innovative!), academic excellence (EXCELLENCE), welcoming schools (the creation of "welcoming books" as the foundational item on what should be a presentation of school climate), investing in education (the Student Opportunity Act didn't make the presentation, though it was mentioned; someone please be sure the superintendent knows that the Governor didn't sign it as yet), and technology (that is accessible and used?) and innovation. 

And the benchmarks aren't connected to any report: there are percentages, but there is no data backing it up. It isn't attached to anything (50% of site councils are operating and representative? based on what? 8% of new hires are "diverse"? How?). 
And the presentation on lack of disciplinary data is simply incorrect: the superintendent stated that they were waiting for data from the state but the STATE GETS THE INFORMATION FROM THE DISTRICT!
And it's this: 

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